UPDATE: No Einstein appeal, county Board of Education staff recommends

School requests and is granted a week's delay in decision

Staff for the county Board of Education have recommended the board deny a charter school appeal filed by the Albert Einstein Academy for Letters, Arts and Sciences.

In light of the recommendation, Einstein officials requested a week’s delay in the board decision, which was scheduled Tuesday.

Jeffrey Shapiro, executive director of the Einstein Academy’s foundation, said Einstein officials requested the continuance Tuesday to work with county staff on some issues.

Shapiro declined to specify what issues still needed to be addressed.

“I’m hopeful that (the continuance) will only be of benefit to our chances,” Shapiro said.

Board of Education staff members cited several reasons why the petition should be denied, including that Einstein Academy had presented an “unrealistic financial and operational plan” and did not seem too familiar with requirements of law pertaining to special education programs and services, English-language-learning services and attendance reporting.

The board had set Tuesday as the date to decide the fate of the charter petition, almost two months after a public hearing on the appeal on Dec. 11. It’s now set for Feb. 12.

The Saugus Union School District board voted 4-1 on Oct. 16 to deny Einstein’s petition to open an elementary school in the district, citing financial and programming concerns.

That petition was Einstein’s third attempt to gain a charter for an elementary school from the Saugus district. Einstein has a junior and senior high school chartered through the William S. Hart Union High School District.